CAYMAN BRAC

Caymanians call Grand Cayman Island, simply “Cayman”.  They call Cayman Brac, just “Brac” and obviously call Little Cayman Island, “Little”.  Cayman is pronounced Cay Mon. 
Brac is only 14 miles long with a bluff in the middle and very impressive cliffs on the East end.  Brac is a world away from Grand Cayman.  The amount of vacationers in Brac is far less than in Grand Cayman.  It is a very peaceful island with few cars. 

All the Cayman Islands are known for their excellent scuba diving because of the clear water, reefs and deep walls.  To my knowledge, this island does not have any sandy natural beaches.  There are a few public beaches but mostly the entrances to the water are rocky. 

We should have called Port Authority upon arrival, but we forgot.  Instead, we just went into the channel on the south side and picked up a mooring buoy.  We previously studied our Frank Virgintino’s guide that’s about 10 years old.  He said that we can get behind the reef on the South side in 6 feet of water.  This should have been a piece of cake for Alpenglow since she only has a 4.5 foot draft.  The channel is extremely narrow and windy and even with good visibility, we skimmed the ground, not once but twice, our depth sounder said it was 4.2 feet.  Our guide was definitely out of date.  We should have known that topography can change over the years. 

Lucky for us, it was very easy to glide over the sandy bottom.  If we had notified Port Authority of our arrival, they would have told us not to go inside the reef.  Turns out, ignorance was bliss because it was so much calmer inside the reef.  We ended up anchoring in a very sweet narrow spot between a dock used by the Brac Scuba Shack boat and the reef.

Here’s a picture of a map Tim drew if you are interested in anchoring inside the reef.  We hold no responsibility if you run aground !  Make sure you go at high tide.




There was a Cuban refugee boat anchored near us with fifteen men and one woman on board.  They recently arrived and were on their way to Guanaja, one of the Bay islands of Honduras.  During their stay, they were not allowed off their boat.  Immigration officers parked their cars and watched them 24/7.  We were curious and asked the officers about the Cubans.  They told us that they periodically advised them of the weather and told them when they must leave.  Some people fed them, however, they weren’t supposed to but the officers looked the other way.  The officers we talked to said that they would make sure that they do not starve and will help them if they get sick.  This is a very common occurrence in Brac.

THEIR BOAT WAS NO MORE THAN 30 FEET LONG

Sometimes we complain about having bikes on board since they take a lot of space.  But, when we get to islands where we can bike, we are very pleased to have them.  We find that we experience so much more by biking.  Besides, there are no buses on this island.  If islanders don’t have a vehicle, they mostly hitchhike.

We biked by the ‘National Trust Brac Parrot Reserve’.  It did not disappoint us.  We saw 18 parrots in one tree on one occasion and saw several others on different days.  Sorry, no pictures because the lighting was lousy. 

As we were biking further northeast, we spotted art outside someone’s house.  One piece was of a toilet he used to hold his garbage.  If the lid was up, the garbage men knew he had garbage, if it were down, there was none.  There was a Welcome sign so we entered the gate to investigate.  From the corner of my eye, I could see a man in his workshop putting on his pants.  He was a tall, skinny man with long blond hair sporting work clothes.  He introduced himself as “FOOTS” because of his size 16 feet. 


You can tell that Foots loved having visitors.  He brought us around to see all his sculptures which all told a story.  He welcomed us inside his house and offered me to pick jewelry that he made of the local caymanite stone he found, or of conch and whelk shells he collected.  He must have had hundreds of pieces !  I picked a few and he insisted I choose more.  If they weren’t polished to his liking, he’d bring them to his workshop and polish them for me. 

CAYMANITE STONE, CONCH & WELK SHELLS

CAYMANITE STONE IN IT'S RAW FORM

Foots is clearly a hippy, in his early 60s and loves the artists of his time; AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, ZZ top, The Eagles, Alice Cooper, Guns & Roses…  He told us to climb up to his ‘Stairway to Heaven’, turn on his CD and walk out to his roof to enjoy the view while listening to Led Zeppelin. His view up high is of the ocean and shoreline; he has no neighbors in sight.    I could just imagine him getting stoned, playing music full blast and watching the stars from his Stairway to heaven. 

STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN 

VIEW FROM THE ROOF OF FOOT'S HOUSE FROM HIS STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN

Foots’  real name is Ron Kynes.  He is the creator of “The Lost City of Atlantis” where he built sculptures and sunk them into the ocean to create an artificial reef.  http://www.atlantiscaymanbrac.com/artist.html

FOOTS TRUCK

FOOTS AT WORK

ONE OF FOOTS SCULPTURES

COOKIE MONSTER WITH ASIAN SEA BEANS AND WELK SHELLS

SHARK TANK IN PROGRESS

After our visit with Foots, we biked to the end of the road.  At the most Eastern point of the island is a huge bluff and a rocky shoreline.  It’s quite spectacular, especially at the tip where huge boulders have fallen and caves have been dug out by pounding waves.  You can walk pretty far if the waves aren’t breaking over your path.

OUR LUNCH SPOT UNDER THE ROCKS ON THE LEFT

We spotted some rock climbers and as we were watching them, they invited us to climb up and have a chat with them.  John Byrnes, who lives part time in Fort Collins, Colorado and part time in Brac, bolted all the approximately 70 routes on Brac, along with other climbers.  He’s the unofficial climbing ambassador at Brac.  He wrote a free guide book of all his routes which you can get online. 

With him were Becky and Jeff from Colorado Springs !  Go figure, we bump into rock climbers from Colorado in Brac.  We became friends instantly, talking about the rock climbing we did and the places we’ve been.  Becky & Jeff invited us to their rental house for dinner the next day.  Being originally from Louisiana, Becky cooked up a feast of stuffed Chicken, Shrimp Jambalaya, salad, beans, oh my, there was so much absolutely delicious food, what a treat !  We will visit them this summer and hopefully catch Jeff playing his trumpet at the Wild Goose bar.

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT:  BECKY, OWNER OF KY.CLIMB, JOHN, CLIMBING GUIDE, JEFF & TIM

West End Point is a perfect spot to just hang out and enjoy the stunning sunsets.  We often brought snacks and happy hour drinks or just rested from our day’s explorations.  On the way back, twice, we spotted a very large White Owl which I think is a Barn owl.

Booby Point did not disappoint.  We saw several brown boobies in all the different stages of life as it was nesting season.  An egg, a booby just out of its shell, an infant, a chick still with white feathers, a teenager, Moms & Dads.  Brown boobies may have 1 to 2 eggs however they will only feed one….the strongest one. 

A NEW BORN HIDING UNDER IT'S PARENT.  YOU CAN SEE THE ADULT'S YELLOW FOOT TO THE RIGHT OF THE CHICK

A JUVENILE

A TEENAGER

ADULT

One thing during our travels we never heard before was a Traffic Controller on VHF 16.  Every time he saw any kind of vessel, whether close or far, passing by Brac, whether they were stopping at the island or not, he’d hail them.  He was extremely polite, asking simply for their location, where they were going, welcoming them to the island or saying good bye or simply wishing them fair seas. 
In talking with one of the immigration officers one day, turns out the traffic controller was his cousin (it is a very small island after all).  He is an older man who simply loves boats.  Years ago, he built a tall ladder so he could see the ships, today he has more sophisticated ways to spot boats.  He does this only out of pleasure, a hobby you could say.

Not one but many menu items had some delicacies that are not so popular back home:

The Agricultural Festival was very much a family oriented affair.  No alcohol was served and oh boy, were we disappointed, we were hoping for a beer tent after all that riding in the heat.  I especially enjoyed the exhibit on growing fruits and vegetables organically.  I learned a thing or two.  There was a large area of animals that had won prizes for ‘Best Cock’, ‘Best Rabbit’,  ect ect… there were pigs, cows, birds and chickens.  One chicken went for $50CI !  That must have been one very special chicken indeed !

We broke down and had turtle meat stew for lunch.  We convinced ourselves that it came from the turtle farm in Grand Cayman rather than poaching.  No, it did not taste like chicken but indeed, it was delicious.

PRIZED CHICKENS

CHELLO MELLO FRUIT

  

BEAUTIFUL DISPLAY OF LOCAL FRUIT AND VEGETABLES

ACKEE FRUIT WHEN RIPE

HAND MADE BASKETS, HATS AND MORE

THIS COCK COSTS $50CI OR $75US

CRUISERS & TRAVELERS INFORMATION

CHECKING IN:

You are supposed to call the Port Authorities on VHF 16 as you are approaching the island.  Oops, we forgot and oh, it was no big deal.   After taking a buoy we called customs to let them know we had arrived on the south side (the north side had rough seas).  They asked us to dinghy to the dock near Brac Beach Resort to process us.  They didn’t ask us but we knew that they would have wanted our spear gun and pole spear so we just brought them along. 

Immigration gave us new visa cards.  We said we still had those that were given to us while in Grand Cayman.  He said that they should have taken them from us.  He went off to make a phone call, came back and simply said that he will take the old cards and we should fill out new ones.  By doing that, he gave us another 30 free days of stay in the Caymans, SCORED !!!! 

GOING TO LITTLE CAYMAN from BRAC:  We asked if we had to check out or in if we wanted to go to Little Cayman Island.  Little Cayman is considered to be part of the same jurisdiction as Cayman Brac, so no formalities are required.

CHECKING OUT:  If you are leaving Cayman Brac to go to Grand Cayman or another country, you must leave immediately after you check out.  You can only check out of Brac or Grand Cayman.  There are no officials on Little Cayman.

BUOYS:  The Buoys outside the reef are government owned and free to anyone who wants to use them.  Boat dive operators also use these buoys.  Buoys inside the reef are private.

DINGHY DOCKS:  On the south side, you can use either the concrete dock at Brac Reef Resort, or the concrete dock next to the launch ramp, west of the wooden Brac Scuba Shack dock.

GROCERIES:  There are a few grocery stores on the North side of the island.

LAUNDRY:  I never saw any Laundromats or laundry services.

BANK:  Yes, there is a bank and its ATM dispenses US dollars.

CAVEs:  Best cave:  On top of the bluff road, rather than turn towards the lighthouse, go the opposite direction.  At the Mosquito Research and Control Unit turn right.  Not long after that look left, there’s a sign called “CAVE” and a green fence.  Go thru the fence.  Don’t forget light flashes/head lamps.

Another good cave is Pete’s Cave.  It’s near Spot Bay on the North side; just take Pete’s road to the end and walk up.  You can also drive over the bluff to get to the cave however I’m not sure how.

NIM things:  Visit NIM’s things at his house on North East Bay Road, near the end of the road across from the ocean.  He’s a 79 year old man who lived all his life on Brac.  He has many stories you’ll never forget.  Be warned, he’ll talk your ear off !  He has an OPEN or CLOSED sign outside his house.

FOOTS:  His house is on the seashore’s South East side of the island.  You can’t miss it.  Look for driveway arch that says “Led Zeppelin”.

ROCK CLIMBING GUIDE:  CLIMB.KY  or 936-Brac.  If you aren’t a rock climber, no worries, they have all the gear and will help you rappel 100 feet down the cliff.

BECKY & JEFF’s RENTAL HOUSE:  I must mention this house for rent because it is quite beautiful and inexpensive.  It has 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, full kitchen, A/C, laundry facilities ect ect…The most spectacular part about this house is the view.  There is a large deck on the ocean side with a pool and dining table for 6.  Keep in mind, there is no beach here as it’s rocky shoreline but when the seas are calm, you can walk over the rocks into the water.  It is on the far South East side of the island.  And the cost was only $60us a night.  Amazing !  Look it up, it’s called BACH@BRAC. 

MUSEUM:  You’ll find the museum on the North side.  Surprisingly good with loads of information and pictures about the hurricane that hit the island in 1932.